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Chirlane McCray: People spreading lies leads to false front-page story

This morning I woke up to a front-page news article that simply wasn’t true.

And it wasn’t the first time.

Reading through it was an astonishing and surreal experience. It’s like the reporters created a fictional character that happened to look like me and have the same name as me.

They put words into my mouth that I never said. They gave me opinions that have never crossed my mind. They made it sound like NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton is my sworn enemy, when in fact he has my full support.

When I got to the end, my first question was “Why? Why are people spreading these lies?”

And my second question was “How? How do these lies end up on the front page of a Sunday newspaper?”

The answer to the first question is pretty simple — there is a small but stubborn group of people who adamantly oppose the efforts of Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton to create a more fair and equal policing system.

Myopically loyal to a status quo that serves their personal interests at the expense of everyone else, they are doing whatever they can to stop reform — and that includes spreading lies to irresponsible reporters.

The only effective defense against lies is the truth, so here it is: I admire Commissioner Bratton and the work he is doing. I have never questioned his integrity. I respect the decision of Chief of Department Philip Banks to resign. And most importantly, I will continue to do everything I can to support the crucial reforms undertaken by Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton.